Kitten weaning age

[Ashley]

How old do they need to be before you can wean them? They are all eatting very well and momma is on the skinny side, so was wondering for the sake of her. I have been giving her all the food she wants, some wet food and some other food to try and put weight on her, it doesnt work. Any suggestions on what to give for weight gain?

 

[FoRebel]

You should be able to wean them now if they're eating well enough on their own. Might want to try a high protein food to get weight back on the momma.

 

[billiethekid40]

Wondering what cat food mom is eating? Free feeding the wrong food won't help weight gain nearly as much as feeding a good quality, high MEAT based protein diet, canned and kibble, or raw. I would reccomend either a high proten grian free kibble paired with a high met content canned, or look for a commercially prepared raw-food diet. I'm not sure what would be available in your area as I am from Canada, but ones I can reccomend looking out for would be Orijen, GO! natural grain free, and Natures Variety Instinct ( Highly reccomend the Insinct canned line, as well as their raw line).

How old are the kittens now?

 

[Ashley]

She gets purina.

The kittens are 6 weeks old now. She was always a very plump cat before she got bred and kids. She gets real meat when I cook, she gets canned real meat food as well. She has food outside where the kittens are as well as inside. She is hardly ever in with them. She spends most of the time about the house or outside.

 

[Miniv]

Have you tried letting her eat the kitten chow? That's higher in protein than regular adult food. It sounds like you're already giving her everything I would have suggested, ie. real meat and high quality canned food.

As Nicole posted, it's not that unusual for kittens to be weaned at 6 weeks. And your momma is already starting the process! The only other thing I can think of is that she may need to be wormed?

 

[RainSong]

She gets purina.

The kittens are 6 weeks old now. She was always a very plump cat before she got bred and kids. She gets real meat when I cook, she gets canned real meat food as well. She has food outside where the kittens are as well as inside. She is hardly ever in with them. She spends most of the time about the house or outside.

Odd question here- but has she been wormed recently? That could be part of the problem. Our cat back in OH had been an unneutered free-roaming tomcat till we brought him to live with us, he was scrawny and skinny until we got him wormed- then he ended up getting bigger, gaining weight, and being less scruffy. Before that he could eat as much as he wanted- but he was always kinda scruffy and thin.

 

[Ashley]

The cat food is an all ages kind. She does need to be wormed but the stuff I have says not for pregger or nurseing cats. What can I give her that is safe?

 

[Matt73]

The cat food is an all ages kind. She does need to be wormed but the stuff I have says not for pregger or nurseing cats. What can I give her that is safe?

Pyrantel is safe for pregnant and nursing cats.

 

[nootka]

I would guess that the worm situation is why she's not gaining/maintaining condition.

Outside cats especially tend to get worms often, and it can really pull them down esp. when nursing kitlings.

Our kittens have always been fine with weaning around 8 weeks.

Any earlier and the kitten takes too long to adjust to everything around them, such as learning the litter box, etc. when it's so much easier to let mom make the transition to life as a grown-up (by leaving the kittens with her longer).

Good luck with the babies and getting them weaned. Physically, it won't hurt them to wean them, now, it's just not my particular preference much like I prefer never to wean before 4 months with a horse baby, though I've waited as long as 6-8 months, and know that others do it at 2 months with no ill effects.

Liz